How long should you plan to own a house if you buy it?

I grew up in another country. UK is not the only country that sees homes as money making and an investment, in addition to a place to live, lol.

This is particularly so in countries or cities where land is scare.

This.

Buy what you can afford, then when you can afford the next step up, go for it. Rinse and repeat until you achieve your forever home.

We're the only country that see homes as money making. Other countries value them as a place to live. Our housing market would be so much fairer if this were the case.

first house 5 years

second house 30 years and they will carry me out in a box.

Do you see it as a home or an investment? My house is my home,
pointless moving just for the sake of the property ladder. my mortgage was always very managable for me as a single person and was paid off when I was 56.

As long as possible. 5 years in first house, moved because got burgled and didn't feel safe there, been in current house 20 years and plan to stay at least 5 more years until DD has moved out and then downsize.

First house: 5 years

Second house: 8 years - only moved as circumstances changed and couldn't walk past current house

Current house: not planning on moving again 😬 🫠

No rules! If you're happy, stay, if not move? We lived in our first bought house for 3 years, we weren't happy there, moved to next and have been here over 20 years as we've loved it. Each went up in value and added to equity. Now we're moving again, house has doubled in value, will still have mortgage to pay. If we're happy we will stay, if not we will move again. Honestly just go with your gut while being aware of property value in the area. Good luck. Xx

Depends.

I usually bought houses that needed work, so it was a guaranteed money-maker even if we moved in a few years - if you do rewiring, re-plastering, update kitchen and bathroom and add central heating for example, you can sell at a profit within a very short time.

If you know a bit about damp and the types that are easy to correct, then you can get loads of bargain properties too.

If you were wanting a 'move into' property, 3 years is still plenty to stay. So long as you don't lose mmoney, you are still better-placed than having rented. and a house crash is unlikely.

This is a maths question based on where you live.

If you bought a £150k house then sold it 3 years later for a bigger house costing £300,000, you'd pay £15,000 stamp duty around £2000 buying and selling costs, perhaps £1000 moving costs and then interest on the mortgage over the 3 years.

Compare the above with local rent prices then also consider any potential increase in equity.

I bought a a property at the market peak, sold £10k less 5 years later, but lived in an area where rents where expensive so over all including selling costs I still saved money!

If you are a cash buyer, then it is a simpler decision since you do not have to take mortgage rates in consideration.

The cost of moving is not a big amount relatively speaking. You can always reduce the costs of moving by hiring a van and/or doing it yourself with friends, assuming you are not living in a mansion. You should be more concerned at whether property prices are likely to fall in your area to reduce the risk of negative equity.

The rent you will save minus the cost of maintaining the property is the amount by which the property market can fall before you actually lose money.

If you can stay and wait out any negative equity (not sure there is a huge risk of that in the current market), then that reduces the risk of you losing money.

Also if you're buying outright then negative equity isn't a concern. The house may lose value but you won't have a loan secured against it.

There's just no right answer to this as it's so circumstantial.

I don't want to move because I can't be arsed. But if something happens that makes living here less enjoyable then I'll move.

It just depends on your circumstances and what life throws at you which often can't be predicted. For me:
First house 6 years, ended up £16k negative equity
Second house 6 months, lost £6k in value
Third and current house, nearly 30 years, worth about 4.5 times what I paid.

I know a lot of people who wish they’d waited to buy who got first homes in 2006/2007 on 5% deposit mortgages. One of our old neighbours was in her flat for over 10 years and stuck on a crappy interest rate most of the time due to the last crash.

I'd say:

Expecting you'll likely want to move after 3 years (e.g. you plan to get a bigger house in time to have kids) - fine. 95% of the time this will be better for you financially than renting for those 3 years, and if 3 years time is a bad time in the housing market you can just hang on a bit longer.

Knowing that you're absolutely going to need after 3 years (e.g. you're from abroad and your work visa runs out in 3 years) - not sensible IMO.

I've known far more people who wish they'd bought earlier than who wish they'd bought later (I think the latter number is zero)

In general it’s a bit risky buying a house you don’t intend to stay in long, particularly without a large deposit. It’s worth having a look where you will buy to see how stable pricing has been over time on various types of property. I initially bought a 1 bed flat in a terrace on advice of my dad, a surveyor, who observed that particular type of property in that area tended not to inflate as much as bigger properties or fall as fast in a dip. It was amazing advice. I bought in 2004 & sold in 2010 for and lost £1k. In same area a 2 bed flat lost about £35k off its value in that period. They were close to same size and with hindsight the 2 bed was stupidly overpriced as I was buying. If I’d stretched to go for that I’m not sure we’d ever have managed to move to our subsequent houses as really price on the 2 beds only got back to the 2004-5 pricing in 2021 and it’s still not back to the peak from 07/ early 08.

Lucky you.

Generally, if you are going to be in the property market long term, then once you are an owner, you will generally be ok because if the market rises, you can sell your house for a higher price but you will also pay more for the next house. Same thing vice versa.

The only caveat is that as a FTB, don't buy at the peak, because you will end up in negative equity and stuck for the first few years.

Also don't buy a flat with cladding issues. And don't buy a property with a short leasehold.

First house/flat four years; second house/flat four years; third house - 20 years.
Not saying that's ideal, that was just us

I have never found that.

For as long as you need that house and want to stay in it. Financial viability obviously prevails.

Flat: 5 years
House 1: 7 years
House 2: 21 years
House 3: 9 years so far

Flipped an investment project 2013/15. Bought it cheap, renovated, lived in it while renovating House 2 to sell.

Depends on your circumstance and life stage.

Still staircasing? More frequently when you are younger.
Have kids? Move if you haven't enough space / stay put as long as possible of you have enough space.
Older? Depends on your healthcare needs and whether you have a good enough pension.

No ideal answer. Depends on whether the market is in boom or bust too. We didn't have the option whilst we were in negative equity.

There are no rules
Do whatever suits